Tag Archives: Cranknstein

I definitely should be heading out to the restaurant supply store right now to pick up things for the brewery. And I will as soon as I hit “post”, but first I wanted to give you guys a quick update since I may never ever have a chance to blog again ever. Ever. (I’m kind of kidding…)The brewery I work at (which I will affectionately refer to as “my brewery” from now on) is having our grand opening on FRIDAY!!! We’ll be open from 12-9pm and Umami will be there all day! See our newspaper article here.We started off with a whirlwind of releases to our favorite spots. Here I am with my rats’ nest hair writing our beers up on the board at Cranknstein last Thursday!And may I introduce Snowbank Brewing’s owner and brewer – Dave Rosso.We brought three kegs with us: Bike Trail Pale, Moon Arete Wheat and Pawnee Porter, and tapped them at 6pm and watched as the crowds grew. (For those who were there, our beer names have been updated. Take note!)I seated myself on the comfy couches for a lot of the night to be “social” all by myself updating our social media outlets on the happenings. Snowbank Brewing Facebook, Snowbank Brewing Twitter and Snowbank Brewing Instagram. (That’s a *hint hint* for all of you to follow us).The Liquid Poets Society homebrew club members began to filter in. Dave has been a member of LP for years, from which many a brewery has been created.About an hour in, the first keg blew. Two hours in, the second. We were beyond ecstatic. It was about 9:30pm when we decided we should depart and seek out some food. My bro went to lift the kegs in back and told me there was only a few pints left of porter, so I decided to order one final beer to speed the process.We killed ALL THREE KEGS! Massive amounts of cheering throughout the crowds ensued and we went for a celebratory dinner at Coopersmith’s down the road before heading home to pass out from exhaustion.The next day all of the really fun stuff began. I mopped all of our walls to rid them of the construction dust, vacuumed and mopped the entire taproom and washed our windows.I also took one of our kegs of Colorado Red on a road trip to Matador’s – a delicious burrito joint that we are obsessed with. If you want to try some more of our beer before we open on Friday, head to Matador’s ASAP! They think they’ll kill the keg by lunch!I took a break from jeans, tank tops and construction dust to attend my bestie’s bridal shower. We spent Sunday afternoon down in Denver celebrating the pending nuptials of this beautiful woman.Best friends since age 7, and here we are twenty years later. Holy crap, 20 years??? I feel old now…Jeans went back on and I headed back to my new home, the brewery, for photography, cleaning and mass amounts of social media. I’ve never had so many emails in my entire life!Luckily, there’s always time at the end of the day to take a deep breath, enjoy the gorgeous Fort Collins summer sunset and thank God for how blessed I truly am.

Here we go…The cat’s out of the bag! I’ve alluded to this over the past few months. Actually, I’ve basically showed you in depth over my Twitter and Instagram.Brew boots…Grain out…Social media blasts of malt and sight glasses…And quality control tastings!I’m now working for a brand new 15bbl brewery in Fort Collins called Snowbank Brewing! I’ll be the taproom manager and social media manager for this wonderful place, along with anything and everything else that needs to be done – including beer pairings and creating recipes with our amazing brews.We’ve been in a mad rush getting everything ready for our very first event which is TONIGHT at one of my favorite Old Town spots – Cranknstein.If you’re in the Fort Collins area around 6pm tonight, stop by and be one of the first to try a few of our brews and meet the brewer!Remember this beautiful monstrosity from my Instagram? Odell mac ‘n cheese, pulled pork and barbecue sauce wrapped in a waffle cone from Common Link. That wasn’t just for fun. That was research! We’ve booked our first food trucks for our grand opening!But…. you’ll have to wait on that date for just a little bit longer! We’ve got some more quality control to do!

Happy Labor Day to all! I’ve officially lived in Colorado for a week now, and holy geez, has it been busy! Here’s a quick recap of some highlights.My latest obsessions – iced Bhakti Chai almond milk latte and Ambidetrous #5 dopplesticke altbier (SO GOOD!) from Left Hand Brewing. We stopped at Cranknstein (soon to be one of my regular hangouts) in Fort Collins on our way to the Tour de Fat, and in order to comply with Tour de Fat tradition, both caffeine and beer were required. Cranknstein has both, therefore, I love them.We missed the parade but went to the Civic Center Park to enjoy some music and check out everyone in costume.Halloween 2.0.It was a rowdy bunch with plenty of hollering Chivers stumbling about and scantily clad college kids on bikes.The lines were ridiculously long for beers, so we headed over to Black Bottle Brewery a little out of town for lunch and There Goes the Neighborhood rye saison – earthy, perfectly barnyard funky with a wallop of spiciness from the rye. I need to get one of these mustache glasses!The rest of the week has been in the same vein. We headed to High Hops Brewery in Windsor and enjoyed a cloudy afternoon overlooking the hop farm and mountain range. Afterwards, my bro and sister-in-law kidnapped me and forced me to drink delicious homebrew, eat sushi and talk everything beer. Those two can be pushy…In between all the brews, I’ve attempted to keep my diet somewhat balanced. Chopped salads with sauteed zucchini, bell pepper, carrots and black bean dressing (recipe to come).Homemade indian food was also necessary. I chopped up eggplant, zucchini, onions and bell peppers, marinated them in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a healthy dose of garam masala and curry before slowly grilling them to caramelized perfection. Slow cooker chicken tikka masala and garlic naan joined the plate.Every evening that hasn’t been dominated with new friends, steak and lobster dinners (which actually occurred last night) and beer tastings have been spent on the porch enjoying the sunsets and the warm end of summer.Lightning storms and downpours over the mountains are a bonus.Happy Labor Day, everyone! Go be lazy – you’ve earned it!